Towns slow to join proposed 911 call center based out of Worcester

Central Massachusetts communities are not exactly warming up to the idea of becoming part of a regional emergency services call/dispatch center that would be operated in the city.

More than two years after 10 communities had expressed an interest in teaming with the city for a regional 911 dispatch center, none have yet agreed to get on board.

David W. Clemons, the city’s director of emergency communications, said only two towns — Leicester and West Boylston — have been in active negotiations with the city.

He said West Boylston is in the process of having its town counsel review a draft agreement that has been prepared by the city for regional emergency dispatch services.

Once that review is completed, the agreement will then be presented to selectmen in that town for their review and acceptance.

Meanwhile, city officials have had one meeting with Leicester selectmen, and a second public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 27, Mr. Clemons said.

“While negotiations have taken longer than I had hoped for, much work is underfoot,” he added. “Both communities are engaged and have demonstrated a true willingness to participate in a mutually beneficial process. They have been willing to discuss and overcome what other communities have found as roadblocks.”

The city plans on building a $3.6 million regional emergency services call/dispatch center at the Airport Industrial Park.

In 2010, the City Council approved a $2 million loan order to help finance the acquisition of the property at 2 Coppage Drive, as well as refurbishing the existing 12,000-square-foot building on the site and building it out with state-of-the-art technology for dispatching services.

The debt service on the $2 million is supposed to be paid through revenues generated by the regional communications center, in the form of annual grants and various fees paid by participating communities.

Mr. Clemons said design work for the regional 911 dispatch center has been completed by the city’s Architectural Services Division.

He said once agreements are signed with other communities, the state will release funds for the construction from the $1.6 million grant the city received through the Public Safety Answering Point Development program.

Release of those funds would enable the city to put the project out to bid.

When plans for the regional emergency services call/dispatch center were first announced two years ago, city officials said they were looking to begin with five communities.

They were hoping that the annual maintenance and operation of the new facility would be subsidized in part by participating communities.

But Mr. Clemons area communities have concerns about such a partnership, ranging from loss of control of their dispatch services to determining how to lock up police stations at night when officers are out on patrol; those duties are usually done by their dispatchers.

“These concerns are legitimate, and each town must do what is in the best interest of their community,” Mr. Clemons wrote in a report that goes before the City Council Tuesday night.

“We continue to engage other towns, even those who have backed out, to bring them back to the table so that we can continue these conversations and reach agreements that are mutually beneficial and will best serve the needs of each community,” he added.

Mr. Clemons said the city and state recognize that there are many benefits associated with regionalization of 911 emergency dispatch services, including a significant savings to taxpayers and enhanced service to the community.